Svalbard - What an amazing place!
Svalbard - April 2017
If leaving Germany and heading 3000 km north, travelling in the correct direction, you will eventually end up in this group of islands, known as Svalbard. Having a look at Google maps is quite impressive:
Located far north of the polar circle makes some incredible differences in sunlight throughout the year. The northern light is visible during the winter, with a period of complete darkness for 2.5 months. And with the summer comes the midnight sun, where the sun does not set for a whole 4 months.
We arrived in the last week of April, just a week after the start of the "midnight sun season". A perfect time to experience the midnight sun, and at the same time, the weather being cold enough to enjoy all the cool winter activities.
Below a picture of the jet, just after landing at Svalbard Airport, Longyear. The sun is shining, just after midnight and -15 degrees.
Luggage thieves?
Not a problem here, with this beast guarding the luggage belt. :)
What a great road sign and the warning for polar bears. The sun in the background, that is pretty much as low as it gets during the night.
Next day we were off to the beach... eh...maybe calling it a beach might be to exaggerate "a bit". Especially considering that the only activity in the water was the Norwegian coast guard lurking around.
Picture below taken from a hill outside Longyearbyen, with the ocean in the horizon. This is located next to one of the last active coal mines, that is the building you see on the right. On the left, outside of the picture, is the EISCAT(https://www.eiscat.se/) research center, used to study the atmosphere and effects of the northern light.
Here a picture of the two EISCAT antennas. The one on the left with a diameter of 42 meters, while the one on the right only measures 32 meters.
Down in Longyearbyen center. The most northern church in the world.
This the entrance to the bank. No guns allowed! LOL
Oh no! That was not a good spot to park the car. Probably better to use the snowmobile.
On my way home. What better way to end a trip than with a Plane Ale. :)
Hope you had some fun!
Please comment and let me know if you have any questions.
See you around.
Great Post, even greater trip! Check out my Svalbard blog @icgoodthings
Thanks
Thank you for connecting!
See you around.
Wow, that looks like an amazing adventure! Thanks for sharing this with us :-)
Thanks!
Before going there I read reviews on TripAdvisor, and I couldn't believe people explaining it as the best holiday destination ever, some returning year after year. But having been there, I can really understand the attraction factor, especially for someone looking for an adventure.
It was just too bad I didn't have time for a "polar bear excursion", that would have been something. Closest I got to see one, was the one in the airport. :)
Wow, yeah that would have been amazing I bet!
Myself, I'd rather stick to normal temperatures. Well, the ones I'm used to I mean. I get cold (or hot) so quickly, snowy places don't seem too attractive to me! I do still love to see the pictures though, so thanks for that :D
At least I was sleeping in a hotel, so I could stay warm in the night. Considering price to quality it was one of the most expensive ever, a single room per night was around 300 Euro/350 USD! And you don't want to know about the quality... Lucky for me I was there for a business trip. :)
But in the airplane I met a guy who traveled there for a polar bear photography excursion. They were going to sleep in tents and travel by snowmobiles, in an attempt to get that perfect polar bear shot. :D They must have had some tough, cold nights. He was explaining they had to take turns in the night, keeping an eye for approaching polar bears...
Ouch, that is quite expensive indeed!
Wow, sounds like that guy was in for quite an adventure. I admire people who go to such lenghts for their hobbies.
My next trip in a few weeks will be to Japan and the hot summer weather. Quite a change compared to Svalbard. ;) Will try to aim for a daily post while over there.
Ooh Japan sounds awesome! Looking forward to seeing some pictures of that trip :D
Whaou ! I plan to go there next year. Thanks a lot for your photos.
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How nice. ;)
Wow! These are incredible photos! Thanks for a glimpse into this amazing place!
Thanks Natasha!
I love your blog theme. I can't say I follow it strictly myself, but I got inspired a while back to learn more about organic food. I have for example, fallen in love with raw chocolate. :D I got a package of 1kg cacao nibs delivered the other day btw. But I'm the only one in the family so far feeling the same about chocolate.
You got a new follower! Keep going strong.
Wow thanks @danielsaori! Raw chocolate sounds amazing!
I picked up a book called "Naked Chocolate" by David Wolfe and got hooked on the whole raw chocolate thing. I guess most people have no clue how different raw chocolate taste compared to the processed one.
It's fun to go to Amazon and look at some of the comments of people who ordered cacao nibs, how they complain about the bitterness and how something must be wrong... :D
Oh cool! I've never tried raw chocolate, but I've always wanted to. I can imagine the health benefits would be huge compared to processed chocolate. Lol I love the bitterness of cacao nibs! They're like chocolate coffee beans, without the processed sugar.
Well, then you have tried raw chocolate. ;)
Cacao nibs should be sold just as dried and fermented beans and then crushed into nibs. The heating process will kill some of the healthy stuff inside the cacao bean.
Got it! Silly misunderstanding on my part. Agreed!
I have been to a lot of winter environments. Stayed in tents. Svalbard is my number one goal to visit :D nice post
Thanks Okan! Unless you have the intention to see the northern light, I would say the month of April is the best time for a visit. Very bright but still with a lovely wintry feeling . Steem on! :)
Thanks, I will keep that in mind. :)
wow wunderschön ;) schaut echt nach einer super Reise aus :)
Ja, es war eine super Reise.
"The northern light is visible during the winter, with a period of complete darkness for 2.5 months. And with the summer comes the midnight sun, where the sun does not set for a whole 4 months."
This sentence got me like O.O !
hahah beautiful shots by the way, really enjoyed! :)
Thank you for sharing this. I'll look forward to seeing more good stories. :p @danielsaori